Being an Uchiha is a Burden
by AoMythology
Summary: Naruto was born an Uchiha descendant as well as Uzumaki; however, even if he's smarter, that doesn't change his personality, nor make him hugely talented immediately. Unfortunately, many things are made harder for him. More alert enemies, a hateful fox; even Konoha is more wary. Sharingan-Naruto, Genjutsu user Naruto. Not Yaoi, and less AU than it seems.
1. Beginnings (Ch1)

Summary: Naruto was born an Uchiha descendant as well as Uzumaki; however, even if he's smarter, that doesn't change his personality, nor make him hugely talented immediately. Unfortunately for him, things are made harder rather than easier. More alert enemies, a hateful fox; even Konoha is more wary. Sharingan-Naruto. Only slightly AU.

Rated T for the occasional cursing, as well as some violence.

Edited on 2017-6-24

* * *

 **Naruto**

"Yosh!" Naruto said to himself, "let's get started!" And unrolled the Forbidden Scroll of Seals carefully, noting that it looked rather strange; a bit too clear, really, like he had put on glasses for near-sightedness or maybe asti-whatever. 'Can't be,' he reasoned, 'my eyesight is twenty-twenty, maybe better.' So he just chalked it up to the Scroll being special, and proceeded.

He looked at the first jutsu on the scroll, called the Shadow Clone. Seeing that it was B-ranked, he skipped to the next one… which was a bigger version of the same, the Mass Shadow Clone. Clone Great Explosion; needs the Shadow Clone, and A-ranked.

Object Shadow Clone, Shuriken Shadow Clone… Karyuu Endan (Fire Dragon Flare Bullet); B-ranked, and needs months or years of training in Fire Release; Gouka Mekkyaku (Great Fire Annihilation) and Gouka Messhitsu (Great Fire Destruction), the same. Kokuangyo no jutsu (Bringer of Darkness technique); an A-ranked genjutsu.

Kuchiyose: Rashomon; a defensive jutsu -enough said- and B-rank too; the Eight Gates: the Scroll said it would take months to unlock those Chakra points in the way shown. Tips on using Katon and Fuuton for Intermediate and Advanced Users, by Uchiha Madara; nice, but not what Naruto was looking for.

A Treatise on Tridimensional Sealing and Seals based on N-dimensional Coordinate Systems, by Senju Mito; a few suicide jutsu; Edo Tensei: brings back the dead by sacrificing living people….

Naruto looked at the scroll, then at the sky, then back again. He lifted his hands and shouted, "what the FUCK is this SHIT!"

The young boy lied down on the dirt, frustrated. There was nothing he could use in the stupid scroll; it was supposed to have jutsu a Genin could learn, but he found nothing below B-rank; as in Jounin-level. Some of the contents were horribly complicated, too, or just plain HORRIBLE; like the B-rank and A-rank techniques weren't enough! Was Mizuki-sensei playing a mean trick on him? Or was it something more serious?

Still, Naruto decided to start over; he lifted the Scroll again and looked at the Shadow Clone, this time willing to risk his life to learn it-

Someone landed on the clearing. Naruto tensed, knowing it was Mizuki and being suspicious of the man.

* * *

 **Kyuubi**

Kurama opened his eyes. That was a surprise, and definitely not a pleasant one. As soon as he allowed his Chakra to mix with his container's more actively than before, the boy awakened the last bloodline he expected his host to have. 'And I was glad for a second that I had a container who actually is willing to do what he needs to get stronger. Of course he's like that; he's a member of _that_ clan...'

Still, the situation wasn't completely unsalvageable. While he didn't have the influence on the brat's system needed to permanently seal away his Sharingan, and even if he got more influence, it would be too late to manage anything… well, Kurama could stop those accursed eyes from working for the time being, and the brat would need to get them again, the hard way. Hopefully, by the time the Sharingan had the chance to awaken anew, his current container would have gotten himself killed.

* * *

 **Omniscient POV**

Unbeknownst to the Bijuu, it did something similar to what Sasuke had done to himself. It used a loophole in the 'Eight Trigrams Sealing Formula' to seal away part of the memory of that day; the emotions Naruto had felt due to the red Chakra influencing him slightly, as well as the stuff he had memorized due to his eyes had been placed in a strong mental block, one similar to the mental block Sasuke inadvertently placed on himself due to his psychological trauma when he was eight years old.

On the other hand, the seal reacted to that, as if it had actual intelligence, and the loophole that allowed the Kyuubi influence on Naruto's memories (by coursing its Chakra through his brain) was forever closed; there was also more backlash than that for the gigantic creature.

* * *

 **Mizuki**

Mizuki landed inside the clearing the idiot fox boy was supposed to be in. 'Thank the gods', he thought, 'for a moment, I thought he would be stupid or lucky enough to get lost, and delay my plans.'

"There you are, Naruto," Mizuki said, pretending at joviality. 'I'm really looking forward to the damned monster's look of despair,' he thought.

The little monster greeted Mizuki warily, making him think, 'so the little shit isn't as stupid as it pretends to be. Yet another point to my belief he is the actual fox.' Out loud, the man said, "so, you did realize the other point of the test was about not trying any of the fake jutsu? I don't see you out with Chakra exhaustion, after all."

The monster was hiding behind the Scroll, nearly making Mizuki scoff. It threw the Scroll at Mizuki, which the man's arms reflexively tried to catch, only for his feet (again, reflexively) to launch him away with an accompanying burst of Chakra, something that saved him from the two explosive tags attached to the Kunai Naruto threw.

"Nice- nice False Surroundings genjutsu, fox," an only somewhat injured Mizuki said, "it's too bad for you that your Control sucks in this form, otherwise, I wouldn't have been any the wiser; your attention to detail is, indeed, worthy of a Youko (Demon Fox)."

"I can't understand; how come I fell for your act? Well, I was going to ask you why you are doing this, but it's obvious you're just a crazy bastard, Mizuki-sensei- I mean, Mizuki," the monster in human form said cheekily, "so why wouldn't you try to get your hands on a Scroll with high-level kinjutsu…?"

Mizuki sneered at the brat that had the audacity to call him a crazy bastard; he, the Demon Fox itself! He said, "You were desperate to become a ninja, to manage your plans of revenge, obviously. Heh, but what are you going to do now, fox?" Twirling a Fuuma shuriken, "I'm not going to fall for another genjutsu, and even injured as I am, you are no match for me currently-"

Before Mizuki had even started saying the final word, he threw the shuriken he was holding, then threw another behind it in the 'shadow shuriken' maneuver, hiding it in the shadow of the first one.

The brat managed to avoid the first Fuuma shuriken; barely. The second one neared it while completely off-balance, set to behead the filthy creature. Mizuki smiled in glee- CLANG! The weapon was deflected... by the Sandaime. Oh shit. Time to bullshit like mad and hope for the best.

"Hokage-sama!" Mizuki said, "I was about to apprehend the- brat, but he tried to kill me. My apologies for using lethal force-"

The killing intent coming from that short frame was nothing short of paralyzing. Mizuki had been a Chuunin for years, and even had the Chakra reserves of a _very_ strong Jounin, or even higher. All of that, though, paled before the older-looking monster in human form. 'Is that what the power of an S-rank ninja feels like? What a monster….'

"No, Mizuki," the Sandaime said, "this is what the power of my Shadow Clone feels like; the real Sarutobi Hiruzen is elsewhere," all the while tying him up with Chakra-resistant wire.

"Hokage-sama and I heard everything, Mizuki. Why? Why would you betray the village?" Iruka, who had also shown up but barely registered in Mizuki's perception due to the sheer overwhelming presence of the fucking old monster, said.

Mizuki sneered in disgust. He just about had it with the self-righteous bastard. He said, "are you serious, Iruka? Do you really believe all that crap you often spout about the 'Will of Fire'? My uncle -Hatake Sakumo- was driven to suicide, and even Kakashi was being persecuted; for what? For Uncle following the philosophy of this backstabbing village?

For being the son of a shinobi who served the village faithfully for three decades? We were both left with no family at nine* for idiotic reasons -my mother was on her last legs then already-, but that little shit Kakashi was still more loyal than the damned Hokage! Then, when I followed the REAL philosophy of this hellhole, I was barred from promotion; ha! What hypocrisy. I could have been a Tokubetsu Jounin, or even a full-fledged one years ago now!

But the cherry on top was the survival of this creature. Minato-sama was the only one I looked up to, and-"

Mizuki barely managed to realize he had been struck on the head. He didn't even see it coming, everything simply went dark. The only positive part was that he had managed to read some things from the Scroll before then.

* * *

 **Naruto**

"I need to debrief you, Naruto," the Old Man said, something Naruto had dreaded. "Now, now," he added, "there's no need to be alarmed, it's just Iruka and I here. It's not an interrogation," smiling benevolently.

"Okay," Naruto said, nodding. He described what happened from the moment Mizuki tricked him, to the Sexy Jutsu he used on the Old Man (something which made Iruka look at the old Hokage in astonishment, and the Old Man blush; though his sensei did mention that directly assaulting the Hokage was a treasonous action; not that his 'assault' counted as direct, as the boy argued).

Then, the boy recounted everything he saw in the Forbidden Scroll (none of which he read closely enough to remember, though he did skim through them). Finally, he told them how he realized that Mizuki had tricked him.

"Hmm. So, you went for two genjutsu-covered explosive tags from the beginning? What made you go for the kill - were you that certain of Mizuki's guilt?" The Old Man asked.

Naruto shook his head in denial. He said, "no, I wasn't going for the kill. I knew Mizuki is a strong Chuunin and was hoping that the explosion would both injure him enough that I could get away, and attract the attention of the ANBU. I was at a disadvantage, so I couldn't afford to hold back. Besides, I had realized that the jutsu in the Scroll weren't fake, so when he used that excuse, he tipped me off."

The Old Man slowly nodded. He said, "yes, I can understand that; in this case, you acted correctly. On the other hand, you should strive not to end up alone with a near-Jounin-level ninja who might be a traitor again. Not to mention avoid such dangerous maneuvers as using two explosive tags when you aren't certain the one you're attacking is an enemy or an ally except in the direst of circumstances."

Naruto felt ashamed he had been tricked so easily, so he promised not to act so naively again.

"With that said, I've decided: despite your careless mistake -which you compensated for, fully-, for exemplary performance on the field of duty, as well as apprehending a traitor of at least Chuunin level and being skilled enough in Genjutsu to make a Chuunin proud, I hereby promote you, Academy Student Uzumaki Naruto, to Genin," The Old Man- no, the Hokage, said, authority heavy in his voice.

Naruto stood frozen for a few moments, then he cheered when what the Hokage said sank in, but he controlled himself and stopped immediately. He said, bowing deep, "thank you, Hokage-sama. I humbly accept the promotion. I won't disappoint you."

Iruka broke the ensuing silence, saying, "so you _can_ be polite when you want to! You little brat!" His eyebrows twitching in irritation.

The laughter the other two let out made the Academy teacher seem more irritated, but he didn't say any more.

"So, do you have any questions, Naruto?" The Old Man asked in a serious tone, and the atmosphere in his office suddenly became heavy once more - but somehow even worse than before.

Naruto nodded carefully, and said, "are you gonna tell me about my family and why I'm hated now, Old Man?"

The old Hokage said, "of course; I promised, did I not? But first things first: I wasn't telling the whole truth when I said only the three of us were here." Then, he made a gesture and someone appeared.

"It's Kurenai-sensei?!" Naruto said (shouted), very loudly, pleasantly surprised to see his former tutor on such an occasion. "Ehehe. Sorry," he said afterwards, apologizing for not using his 'inside voice'.

The woman smiled and greeted Naruto, apparently unfazed by his loudness and keeping from scolding him, for once. "I was told by Hokage-sama to help explain some things," she said.

"This isn't about the sex talk again, is it?" Naruto asked, faking a sigh.

Iruka slapped Naruto upside the head, making his own head bigger with a certain jutsu. He said, "you MORON! What do you think you're saying? Hmmm, of course, if you lack some information about the facts of life, I could always give you one of my infamous lectures. Well, I'll go ahead and clear my schedule for several hours-"

"Noooo!" Naruto shouted, "anything but that, Iruka-sensei!" Making him think of how dull Iruka-sensei's voice and lectures were.

After Naruto flailing his hands in panic, they went back to business.

"So, Naruto. That piece of information; it's protected as an S-rank secret," Kurenai said, "it has been for over a decade."

Naruto listened attentively. Most likely seeing that he wasn't going to interrupt her, she continued, saying, "do you remember what the history books say about the fight between the Yondaime and the Nine-Tails?"

He hummed in affirmative, dreading what might come next.

Kurenai spoke of the need to seal Tailed Beasts to defeat them, of Jinchuuriki, and told Naruto the fate of the Kyuubi twelve years before.

Naruto had a lot of questions in his mind, but one came out of his mouth first: "Why was I chosen?" He asked.

Kurenai looked Naruto in the eyes and said, "your mother was a known Uzumaki clan member; the Uzumaki clan had a special kind of Chakra, more potent and plentiful than most, and especially good for containing Bijuu. One can tell if a person has inherited the Uzumaki Chakra and vitality in full by the color of that person's Chakra - true Uzumaki had bright yellow or sometimes green-colored Chakra.

Another reason you were chosen was because you had been born that day; the younger a person is, the better they can adapt to Bijuu Chakra. It has been speculated that because of the presence of the Kyuubi, the pregnancy of your mother did not last nine months, as is usual. You were born as soon as it appeared."

"So," Naruto asked, "because I'm an Uzumaki and was born prema- prima- prematurely, or whatever that's called, I was saddled with a giant fox?"

The Sandaime and Kurenai looked at each other; they looked worried. "Yes, that's the gist of it," the woman said.

Naruto couldn't help it; he laughed. He laughed long and hard, with more than a touch of hysteria. Kurenai put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, but Naruto pretended she wasn't there.

After a minute of hysterical laughter, Naruto stopped and wiped his eyes of tears. He said, "sorry about that. Just appreciating the irony. The Old Man always said I wasn't hated because of who my parents were, but that's technically wrong- I mean, false. I thought I'd be happy to find out about my mother; now, I'm not sure," trembling a bit with the emotions.

The other people present did not have an answer to that.

"So," Naruto said, breaking the silence, "does that mean those who called me a menace and a monster behind my back were right?" Thinking of the seal and whether it might break.

Kurenai looked at him sternly. She said, "I've taught you Fuuinjutsu myself. You know fully well that that doesn't make you a monster."

After a few reassurances from his fellow males present, with the Old Man telling him of the strength of the seal, things went like this:

"Wait, Iruka-sensei. Didn't the fox kill your parents?" Naruto asked, puzzled and worried.

"It did," the older male replied, "don't worry, that won't be a problem. I don't hate you, Naruto."

"You did at first, though," Naruto said, revealing that he was a lot more perceptive than he usually seemed to be.

Iruka nodded in admittance. He said, "I did. It took me a while to come to terms with your status as the container, and even longer to speak to you without awkwardness getting in the way. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Iruka said, ruffling Naruto's hair, "you're much smarter than people give you credit for. You're truly… one of my excellent students. Even if you get distracted too easily and suck at taijutsu."

Naruto was truly touched. Of course, he hid it behind indignation. He said, "way to ruin the moment, Iruka-sensei. For the record, your lectures are too boring."

"You little brat," Iruka said, "it seems I shouldn't buy you ramen at Ichiraku's, after all," hiding a smirk.

Naruto started pleading with his Academy teacher, but soon noticed the smirk, and pouted at Iruka -no; rather, he silently protested. Naruto never pouts!-, saying, "that was cruel, Iruka-sensei."

Kurenai and the Third had wide smiles on their faces.

The moment was interrupted by, of all people, Konohamaru. "Old Geezer!" The boy shouted, "I heard both Naruto-niichan and Kurenai-sensei were around- oh, hi, Kurenai-sensei!" Though as soon as he saw his tutor's expression, he shrank in fear.

"Konohamaru," Kurenai said, "what have I told you about barging into the Hokage's office -or anyone's office or room- without knocking, much less shouting at the same time?"

"Uhhh. Not to?" Konohamaru said, still obviously spooked.

"Yes," Kurenai said in reply, then followed with, "tell me, _Honorable Grandson_ , what did you just do?"

The young boy shrank into himself more; Naruto knew she only called Konohamaru that when she was angry, and the younger boy knew it too. Konohamaru said, "sorry. I'm sorry, Kurenai-sensei! I was too enthusiastic to remember my manners."

"Okay, forgiven," the female tutor said calmly, showing an impressive turn of emotions.

Naruto decided he would never understand women.

"Oh, Naruto-niichan," Konohamaru said, "do you have time to play ninja?"

Naruto thought back to the information he had gotten on his mother, and decided he wanted more. He said, "sorry Konohamaru - we still haven't finished our conversation. You know, between adults -ttebayo," showing off his brand new forehead protector, though it was around his neck, green goggles still tied at forehead height.

Konohamaru looked a bit disappointed, but he mainly marveled at his older brother figure being 'a real ninja', as the brown-haired Academy student put it.

After the young boy left (along with Iruka, who cited the need to keep an eye on said troublemaker), Naruto was told about his mother by Kurenai (who had been taught how to turn her Chakra into its Yin Release equivalent by the woman, though she hadn't been her Jounin sensei) and the Sandaime, though the latter didn't know her quite as well.

So, Naruto found out about Uzumaki Kushina, also known as the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero and a few other aliases.*

* * *

 **Omniscient PoV**

Iruka was announcing the teams. Everyone was paying attention, even Naruto. (Except Shikamaru, of course.)

"Teams Three, Nine, Eleven and a few higher numbers are still active and Genin, so…."

The young Chuunin rattled off a few teams, and voices of both happiness and disappointment sounded off. Then, he reached the number seven.

"Team Seven," Iruka said, "is comprised of Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura threw a triumphant look at Ino, who frowned a bit, but said nothing. Naruto had mixed feelings on both his teammates, so he simply stayed quiet (and doesn't that sound like an oxymoron).

Iruka proceeded onto Team Eight, which had Hinata, Shino and Kiba. The blue-haired girl threw a quick, slightly disappointed look at Naruto, but then, she took charge and, without speaking, forced Kiba to sit next to Shino along with her.

Team Ten had Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji. Shikamaru lifted his head and hand a bit to show Chouji a raised thumb. Ino sighed a bit in resignation; she seemed to have expected the outcome.

After a final, shorter lecture by Iruka, the new Genin were told to wait for their teachers in the classroom. The first one there was Kurenai, who had been hidden under a simple Cloak of Disguise, staying undetected by all. When she said she was there for Team Eight, Naruto slumped down in disappointment.

The woman gave a (very short) lecture on awareness to all the Genin present, making more than one kunoichi look at her in awe after her display of Jounin-level stealth, since even Iruka (who immediately left with his head down) had been surprised by the woman's sudden appearance, though at least, he had drawn a weapon.

Team Ten was also headed by a kunoichi, this one over sixty years old, who introduced herself as Sarutobi Biwako. She had the kanji for 'four' on the shoulder of her dress, which she said was there because the Fourth Hokage saved her life at great cost to himself when asked.

Shikamaru privately thought that 'Death(*2)' described the fate of anyone who was made her student rather well. He never thought he would meet a woman more troublesome than his mother.

After a long, long time waiting, Naruto decided to prank their new sensei. So, he put a chalkboard eraser above the door, honestly not in the mood to bother setting up something elaborate. Besides, you can't beat the classics.

Sasuke called Naruto a fool, telling him not to bother using traps against a Jounin. The blond boy shrugged, while Sakura looked at the setup in thinly veiled interest.

The sound of a throat clearing tipped them off to someone present in front of an open window, on the inside. The man was tall and a bit thin, with hair of a shade that reminded Naruto of Mizuki and a single uncovered eye.

The man took in the kunai all three had drawn, and closed his eye, crinkling his visible face in what the three new Genin could somehow tell was a smile. "Well," he said, "it seems I could grow to like you guys, if we don't part ways immediately. Though the fact you didn't detect me for over three hours is a serious negative - it's not like I bothered to hide besides being outside behind a half-closed window."

Sasuke and even Naruto were silent and vigilant still, so Sakura took initiative. She said, "are you our sensei? And what do you mean by 'parting ways immediately'?"

"Aah," the man said, "I'm Team Seven's sensei, Hatake Kakashi. As for the other part of your question - the Jounin have the right to reject any prospective student that didn't pass the test given. So, yes, there is a test you have yet to pass; _if you ever do_ ," chuckling just loud enough to be heard when he said the last part.

Naruto was still looking at the man in suspicion, though he had lowered (not sheathed) his kunai. Sasuke, on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber once more, even if an undercurrent of fear, then determination didn't escape Kakashi's gaze. Sakura whispered: "the Academy test is just to weed out those who are completely inept," making Naruto glare at her, turning her expression sheepish.

Sasuke was watching the interactions with well-hidden interest - well-hidden for a Genin, that is. So the kid took after his clan's most-signed contract more than his Academy teachers let on; and even if curiosity killed the cat, in this case, it could only spell positive things - especially since it showed he didn't look down upon his current teammates as much as expected.

"Well," Kakashi said out loud, "you have interesting dynamics, I'll give you that much. Now, you are going to meet me in Training Ground Three in twenty minutes.

Don't be late; I certainly won't be…," laughing sinisterly after the last part and leaving with a swirl of leaves.

"Okay," Naruto said, "time to go!"

Sakura, on the other hand, halted both of the boys by grabbing their collars and knocking their heads together, much to their protest. After they got over the dizziness, of course.

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" Naruto said, rubbing his forehead.

Sasuke simply glared at Sakura venomously, though she had his attention.

The sole female of Team Seven said, "we've got to stick together - have you forgotten how important teamwork is supposed to be for Konoha shinobi?"

Sasuke snorted. He said, "why should we listen to you?"

Sakura could see that Naruto agreed with Sasuke, even if he didn't say anything. Ignoring the hurt, she said, "would the other agree to anything, if one of you two called the shots?"

After the message sank in, Sasuke said, "what would you have us do?" Showing his acceptance of Sakura's (temporary?) leadership.

The young kunoichi told them they should ask where Training Ground Three was, then run like they were being chased by snake summons; but stick together, regardless.

At Naruto's suggestion, they headed for the Hokage's office, by far the nearest place that had any shinobi, mainly because the Academy was technically closed that day.

"Hey, Old Man," Naruto said, happy as ever.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were wide-eyed (the latter more visibly than the former), and Sakura barely managed to keep from scolding her teammate, now believing his claims that he knew the village leader personally.

Sarutobi greeted his surrogate grandson, smiling behind the pipe he was smoking. After Naruto explained what he wanted, the old man said, "that's all well and good, Naruto, but I've already told you that after you graduated, you would have to trade favors - like most shinobi do."

"Huh, you did?" Naruto said. Then, it clicked. He said, "oh, when you got me Kurenai-sensei as a tutor. Now I remember. Still, it's something we could learn from any shinobi, right?"

Sarutobi said, "well reasoned, Naruto, but the missions office is closed right now - nobody is around and, knowing Kakashi, you're on a time limit. So, what will it be?" Smiling serenely.

Naruto nodded resignedly and said, "fine; name your terms, Old Man."

After the terms had been agreed to, the three Genin-to-be set out for Training Ground Three… running like crazy.

The training ground was practically on the opposite side of the village as compared to the Academy, so the three young shinobi candidates arrived panting; they had wasted too much time with the information gathering, Naruto admitted to himself.

The two non-blond Genin did not protest, though, because they knew that the Hokage himself WAS the fastest way to get the info due to only ANBU being around on team assignment day after the teachers left; ANBU were usually too reluctant to speak at all, granted they were even visible.

"Ah! We ma- we made it," Naruto said, slightly out of breath.

"Not quite," Kakashi said behind them, making Naruto start and open his kunai pouch and the other two shiver (unfortunately for them, they were too out of breath by the frantic sprint to react more).

"Sensei," Naruto said, worried that they would fail, "what was our time?" No trace of fatigue in his voice anymore; a mystery as always.

Kakashi shook his head. He said, "it took you twenty minutes and thirty-six seconds. Too bad," closing his eye, smiling in his own way. 'They arrived and gathered information together,' the man thought, 'first test, check.'

After the three Genin-to-be squirmed a bit (he didn't even answer their questions on whether they failed), Kakashi opened his eye and said, all business, "that said, I can tell at least one of you is somewhat promising, so you will get a second chance; but it will be even harder: you have to steal certain items - from me."

After that, the Genin were presented with two bells and told to go at him with the intent to kill. Kakashi also told them, "I'm not a Chuunin or a rookie Jounin. Go nuts."

Sasuke looked at the man thoughtfully. He said, "Kakashi. Is there a particular reason there are only two bells?"

Kakashi nodded. He said, "of course. Many Jounin are not willing to take on a full team, though they usually take a single apprentice. That said, nobody in the past has gotten even one bell from me, so I wouldn't even count on one of you becoming my apprentice. Well, if that's all…," setting an alarm clock for an hour later.

Sasuke looked Naruto in the eye; while they did not exactly like one another and weren't friends, the two of them made an excellent team, able to use silent communication without even making hand signs.

After the Jounin said 'start', Naruto grabbed Sakura by the back of the collar, and headed for a relatively safe location; said girl was too smart to struggle, but the low growl-like noises that came out of her throat told Sasuke there'd be hell to pay for the moron later.

"Don't look at me like that, Sakura," the blond preteen said, "fair is fair."

Sakura's glare barely abated, even when Sasuke smirked at her - she simply turned her glare towards her crush without hesitation, making Sasuke's opinion of her go up a notch. 'Maybe she has changed, after all,' he thought.

Naruto cleared his throat. He said, "on to serious matters - what exactly did you want to say, Sasuke?"

Sasuke said, "there is something fishy a- **dodge**!"

Without questioning their teammate, Naruto and Sakura immediately vacated their locations, just in time for Kakashi and another Kakashi to attack them. "Huh," the man said, "you guys are way too slow to hide. Are you going to confront me head-on?"

Sasuke made the hand signs for "stick together" and "regroup". Naruto was a sensor of passable skill, so he would leave it to the other two to find him, drawing Kakashi's attention on himself.

Sasuke didn't react to Kakashi's taunts; by the time one of the copies decided to follow the other two, Sasuke had finished his three hand-seals (Boar, Horse and Tiger).

* * *

 **Kakashi's first Shadow Clone**

'What the hell?' Clone-Kakashi thought, 'a Genin managed to shorten a C-rank elemental jutsu's hand seals? He might not even have a Fire Affinity, according to Umino Iruka!'

The other clone was consumed in the conflagration, but he used Kawarimi (Body Replacement) without seals to get away, then burrowed underground, managing to blindside Sasuke and bury him… only to get a seal-less stream of fire in the face and dispel while gloating.

* * *

 **Sasuke**

Sasuke coughed a bit and frowned at the pain of a burned mouth; he hadn't yet learned to use the raw element very well. Many other Uchiha had managed that without any backlash by the time they were his age; he could barely melt a rock in his hand. 'Well, at least I didn't _completely_ exhaust my Chakra,' he thought, wishing that he could use Earth Release. Hopefully he hadn't overestimated the other two - he believed they'd find and free him.

Sasuke's breathing became faster; not because of claustrophobia, he didn't suffer from such a thing. He simply remembered the last time he put his faith in someone other than himself. Still, he controlled his breathing, pushed away the flashbacks ( _I won't let That Man win! I will find somebody to trust, like Mom said!_ ) and listened for the sounds of battle.

* * *

 **Kakashi**

'Huh,' Kakashi thought, 'so Naruto IS a budding sensor, after all. Not a very good one, but now that he's on his guard, he can avoid me as long as I don't put any effort into hiding.'

Still, the two Genin were not just avoiding him, they were closing in on Sasuke slowly but steadily. The man decided to increase the pressure.

* * *

 **Multiple PoVs (Sakura, Kakashi)**

"Sakura!" Naruto said urgently, "our sensei is on the move again, this time faster! Make a dash for Sasuke; we have to split up this time!"

Sakura had resigned herself to following Naruto's commands; he was a good tactician, better at thinking on his feet than her and Sasuke and more cunning than most gave him credit for.

The both of them made a run for it, only to be stopped by a mudslide.

"Are you guys going somewhere?" Kakashi asked, rhetorically, as soon as he appeared; showing himself as the caster of the Earth Release jutsu,

After a brief battle between the three of them, a thirsty and fatigued Sakura had to disengage from her taijutsu match with Kakashi, in which she went so far beyond her limits it was almost funny; she even used Yang Release Chakra to strengthen her body. Despite Naruto's Genjutsu helping her, Kakashi was still an insurmountable obstacle. Fortunately, Naruto had a plan B.

Both twelve-year-olds threw smoke bombs, though a Wind ninjutsu on Kakashi's part put an end to that. The man dispelled a genjutsu, then realized there was a second one. 'Both of them can use Genjutsu proficiently, and the second illusion's Chakra was too different for me to detect immediately.'

By the time he broke out, Naruto was long gone, but Sakura was still rather close. 'Hmm,' Kakashi thought, 'is he leaving her behind because of no teamwork, or is their teamwork even better than I thought, and they're going for a three-on-one?' Out loud, he said, "so, Naruto left you behind. So much for friendship, huh?"

Clone-Sakura and the real one stopped. The former shook her head. 'She' said, "there is a reason for everything we have done thus far, Kakashi-sensei, as there is for everything _you've_ done, I imagine.

Kakashi smiled. He said, "that's all well and good, _Sakura-chan_ , but do you really think you can disguise a simple clone and throw your voice so well that I'd be fooled? Then again, you ARE stalling for Naruto and Sasuke to come help you."

The real Sakura didn't flinch at the first revelation, but when he mentioned Naruto and Sasuke's presumed parts in the plan, Sakura suddenly gasped, too imperceptibly for anyone but him and others with nin-animal-level senses to hear at such a distance. The girl stopped hiding behind a tree and confronted her sensei directly.

Sakura said, "so I can't avoid fighting you, huh?" Obviously resigned to her fate, but still willing to fight, despite her thirst and fatigue.

"On the contrary," Kakashi said, "I'll just wait here. As long as you don't try to go to your teammates, and simply wait for them here, I will just chill," getting an orange book out of his pouch, though he realized Sakura expected a weapon.

Now that he realized that Sakura (probably) hadn't been abandoned, Kakashi would simply wait to see whether her teammates would actually come and get her. The man had suppressed his Chakra to the best of his ability (which meant very, very well) from the moment he realized what the team's plan might be, to see if the boys'd go for his clone (which wasn't hidden) or Sakura, who was supposedly alone.

The fact that he subconsciously thought of them as a team was a really good sign for their prospects, he mused. His concentration, though, was broken by the girl of the team.

Sakura said, "sensei, is that Icha Icha?"

The man responded with a, "hmm?"

The girl shook her head. She said, "your taste in smut is horrible, Kakashi-sensei," shaking her head.

'Does she mean she usually reads better smut?' Kakashi thought, but knew better than to voice that out loud. So, he just giggled, allegedly at something in the book.

'He's probably doing this on purpose,' Sakura thought, 'I didn't see him turn a page all this time.' Her dry mouth kept her from commenting any further. Still, Sakura's fists tightened in anger.

Just after Naruto and Sasuke came back and prepared to fight Kakashi alongside Sakura, the alarm clock sounded off. Kakashi chuckled, while the rookie Genin hung their heads.

* * *

 **Naruto**

Naruto had been tied to a post (for being the only one not to have a prolonged or successful fight against Kakashi, according to the man - the damn liar!), with the other Genin being left with a bottle of water each and getting the very stern warning not to give Naruto any. Kakashi also said that this would be their final chance to pass.

The three preteens were very thirsty, even the usually more durable Uzumaki, which made him curse Kakashi's scheming.

Sasuke and Sakura drank a lot of water, but when they looked at Naruto, the two of them stopped drinking. Then, Sasuke said, "do you sense Kakashi anywhere around here, Naruto?" When Naruto answered in the negative, Sasuke offered him the bottle, making him tense in worry and wonder if Kakashi was just hidden.

"Good point," murmured Sakura, realizing that a weakened squad member would slow them down. "But wait," she said, "why don't we just cut Naruto free, then he gets our bottles himself? We technically won't be breaking any of sensei's orders."

Sasuke looked ready to palm his face, maybe because he missed the obvious; Naruto was one of the few who could tell Sasuke's cues. After the team had all sated their thirst -with a bit of a speed bump- ("Sakura, wouldn't that be an indirect kiss?" "Shut up and drink, Naruto, shannaro."), Kakashi appeared… and nonchalantly threw the bells in front of his team.

Naruto scrunched up his face, considering the facts. Then, he said, "Kakashi-sensei, why are you giving us the bells?"

"Consider it a reward for finding a loophole in my words. Seeing underneath the underneath, as it were," Kakashi said. Then, he finished with, "besides, I'd like to see you squirm. Now, you will have to choose who goes back to the Academy yourselves; consider it practice for when you're team leaders. If you are able to progress beyond today, that is," chuckling again.

"Now, I get it," Naruto said, grinning, "you never told us you wanted an apprentice and not a team, only what other Jounin prefer; that's what had Sasuke so suspicious. At first, I thought you wanted to kick _me_ out of the team, but… it's teamwork, isn't it? That's what this test is about to begin with."

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye and said, "does that mean you're going to risk everything on your conclusion and give the others the bells?"

Naruto was about to reply, when Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder. The dark-haired boy said, "wait, Naruto. This should be a team decision."

After a few seconds, Naruto nodded. After a few words traded between the three of them, they came to a decision. "We're in agreement," Naruto said, "either we pass as a team, or we go back to the Academy as a team."

"I see," Kakashi said, "then, the answer is obvious: you all pass."

* * *

 **Kakashi**

The three Genin were speechless. Even though they had already figured out the answer, they obviously couldn't quite believe they had passed. Kakashi motioned for them to follow him. Less than a minute later, they arrived at the memorial stone.

He said, "this here is a stone for heroes; nearly all of my friends' names are on it," letting himself drink in the memories.

The Genin kept silent, even Naruto being able to read the somber atmosphere.

Kakashi resumed his speech. He said, "it's for those who died in the line of duty. I didn't work well with my team as a Genin, even if we stayed together after promotion; I was a little prick then, so it was mostly my fault. Our horrible communication issues and clashing personalities -and my inexperienced, bad leadership- led to my teammates both dying.

It's said that those who abandon the mission are the trash of the ninja world. But, in the wise words of my late teammate, those who abandon their comrades are below trash." Then, he looked at them, still solemn, saying, "don't make the same mistakes I did."

After a few minutes of silence, someone talked. "Kakashi-sensei," Sakura asked, "what were your teammates' names?"

"I'll tell you kids another time," Kakashi said, having had enough of this heart-to-heart. Then, he said, "I've had enough excitement for one day. Still, I have to admit that the teamwork you three displayed is far above anything my team had, even into our Chuunin years. Well, I wouldn't have passed you otherwise.

By the way… you did reach the Training Ground in time, I simply lied."

His students' cries were music to Kakashi's ears.

* * *

*Yes, Kakashi is a year older here than in canon, same with Obito; Rin graduated earlier than in canon.

*2 Not Red Death! That's up there with Kakashi/Itachi of the Sharingan in creativity, and worse in terms of being bad fanon.

*3 Four (Shi, or Yon) and Death (Shi) are homophones.

-I apologize for making Team Seven so good at teamwork, but they had to be; otherwise, this fic's Kakashi would fail them come hell or high water. Besides, the test had a lot more nuances than the canon one, while (hopefully) not changing the spirit of it at all; I'm trying to keep with the theme of making things harder for this Naruto.


	2. Training and First Mission (Ch2)

Chapter 2: Training and First Mission

Mostly a training chapter. Don't worry; there won't be nearly as long a training montage as this, unless it's Naruto making something like the Rasenshuriken, maybe not even then.

(Edited on 6/19 2017)

* * *

"I'll tell you kids another time," Kakashi said, "I've had enough excitement for one day. Still, I have to admit that the teamwork you three displayed is far above anything my team had, even into our Chuunin years. Well, I wouldn't have passed you otherwise.

By the way… you did reach the Training Ground in time, I simply lied."

His students' cries were music to Kakashi's ears.

* * *

After an introduction to D-ranks and, most importantly, Tora, Team Seven were horribly annoyed at their teacher and life as rookie Genin (read: the lowest of the low). On the other hand, their teamwork had improved to a great degree; especially since Sakura no longer was on the outside, though the boys still hadn't completely gotten over their issues with her.

The good thing was that Kakashi was never late; the Genin simply had to sniff him out, sometimes literally. That's how they discovered that apart from good eyesight, Sasuke had a great nose; also, that apart from being a mediocre (at best) sensor, Naruto had a good sense of hearing.

As for Sakura, she discovered she could pull apart and use her physical and spiritual energy separately for sensory, thanks to Naruto's help; though Sakura was simply better at sensing Chakra, possibly because the blond boy's Chakra Control was still lacking. (Relatively speaking, that is. Naruto's Chakra Control was actually decent, quite good even.)

On the other hand, Naruto was taught by Sakura how to make raw Yang Release Chakra and use it to boost his physical capabilities, but he could only raise his strength, not speed, and tended to injure his limbs in the process.

According to what Kakashi put together, having the same natural affinity for both Yin Release and Yang Release tended to allow one to use Yin-Yang Release; now that he knew it was about using Physical and Spiritual energy separately, he could try it himself, though it led him nowhere fast.

It was _extremely_ rare to have equal talent for Yin and Yang; Kakashi knew that even medic-nins, many of whom could use both well, very seldom had the exact same affinity for both Yin and Yang.

'It's strange, though,' the teacher thought, 'Naruto discovered how to use Yin-Yang Release on his own, when it's considered lost since the time of the Rikudou Sennin, if the Sage and Yin-Yang Release are even acknowledged as real. So, how did he invent it from scratch? Was it really that simple?'

* * *

On a sunny spring morning, the small bridge of Training Ground Three tended to be idyllic; the water flowed calmly underneath, birds sang in the trees nearby, the air was full of the scents of flowers - a picture-perfect place to relax. Unfortunately, Naruto couldn't do that. After a week of D-ranks and teamwork exercises, he was fed up, so he said, "sensei! Do we have to constantly do those D-ranks? I've HAD IT with teamwork exercises and that DEVIL CAT!" Well aware that his shouting scared the birds away and made his teammates cringe.

"Oh?" Kakashi said, raising an eyebrow, "do the other two agree?"

Sakura nodded, though she was slightly ashamed; she would have normally not admitted to her discontent, but wanted to show solidarity (and was afraid the boys would be angry at her). Sasuke considered it beneath him to lie to his sensei, so he nodded as well.

The man said, "so then, what do you want to do?"

After a brief and mostly silent debate between the three Genin (in which Naruto was initially glared at for not consulting them first), Sasuke said, "we'd like to have training other than teamwork exercises," having been elected as spokesperson.

"What do you want to work on?" Kakashi asked.

After a quick look at the other two, Sasuke said, "you are the sensei. Aren't you supposed to assess us and tell us what we should work on? Or start with the basics, or something like that?"

Kakashi nodded. He said, "yes, that sounds about right." He then lectured them, saying, "do not expect me to hold your hands. If you want me to train you, find what you want to learn yourselves, then tell me. It's an exception now that we've just become a team; I will assess your strengths and weaknesses and help with your basics, but in the future, you will have to come to me on your own. Welcome to hell; I'm not an instructor that believes in coddling."

The man first checked their taijutsu; Sasuke's skill was more than solid, and based on one of the styles passed on within the Uchiha clan. Since both Sasuke and Kakashi were more about reflexes, speed and prediction, the man was a good prospect for teaching him taijutsu.

On the other hand, Naruto and Sakura were (even) more flexible (especially Naruto), but their speed and strength were evenly distributed, and they lacked the absurd movement speed and skill Sasuke possessed. Sakura especially was quite straightforward in her taijutsu, and didn't use her flexibility much; she used a mix of practiced moves and raw Yang Release Chakra-enhanced speed and strength to overwhelm her foes, but would be nearly helpless against someone with superior reflexes and speed.

Sakura's stamina was really good for a girl her age, but it tended to be used up quickly in taijutsu bouts against strong opponents. So, Kakashi set out to teach her how to dodge better, using her flexibility to keep from making unnecessary movements, and increase her overall stamina. The way he managed that was to give her Military Rations pills specifically designed for growing children and teens every time she got tired, and force her to jog for hours with light weights on, or even walk on water while doing other things - like juggling different objects, or sticking a leaf on herself.

Once Sakura found out just how costly those pills were, she swore to pay the man back eventually - though she didn't stop complaining about him being a slave driver.

Sasuke was simply taught some of the mixed taijutsu style Kakashi himself used, as well as a lot of moves based on the Uchiha clan's styles. He had even gotten permission from a friend of his (the shudder Kakashi gave when talking about his friend made the three Genin wonder) to teach him a few moves from the man's own style.

Naruto, on the other hand, was completely incompatible with Kakashi taijutsu-wise. He was gradually taught how to punch and kick (even) more efficiently, as well as use his knees correctly, but they were met with the same problem Naruto had when taught by Kurenai: they were too different for him to teach him a style. Still, the man told Naruto he would try to pull some strings to get him an instructor; he already had someone in mind.

He also taught all of the students a D-rank Water ninjutsu that allowed one to breathe underwater and got them all weights. The three young Genin were told that _all of that_ would help with their physical conditioning, but they didn't realize why until he stuck them _on the bottom of a lake_ , then had them fight him three-on-one.

Of course, Kakashi barred them from trying that kind of training without the constant presence of a Jounin (like they were insane enough to do it any more than necessary - even Naruto wasn't so crazy!), preferably him. Naruto asked for elemental paper and training, but Kakashi wanted them to have a thorough grounding in the basics first, though he did admit that their previous instructors had done fine work.

Their only work in ninjutsu apart from theory and the D-rank Water jutsu was done by the students on their own; improving their existing ninjutsu was key, according to Kakashi, and he was very proud of Sakura for learning to use Kawarimi no jutsu with only one hand-seal (she had already had it at two hand-seals when she graduated). According to Kakashi, it was a jutsu they should learn to use instantly, without hand-seals; only a few hand-seals were still too many.

The most taxing, though, was not the physical training (except the underwater one); it was the battlefield tactics, which got a lot of inspiration from ANBU training methods - mostly mission simulations, with Kakashi's clones usually playing the role of target, client and/or enemy ninja, though the man often pitted the students against one another as well.

The accursed sadist eventually thought up something worse than even the underwater exercises, though. To train up the students' detection skills, he had his nin-dogs sneak into their bedrooms and… do their business there.

Needless to say, their overall awareness went up very quickly, not to mention their noses became good enough to detect where the urine and/or turd was. (And whether their beds were clean enough to lie in and sit on when the dogs got in in their absence. Ouch.)*

* * *

 **A month later (late March):**

"Guess what, my dear students," Kakashi said, looking as laid-back as ever.

"You're going to teach us another jutsu?" Naruto asked, though he was more hopeful than exuberant. (Which is to say, he didn't jump around.)

"You're going to get us a C-rank, like Team Eight got yesterday?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke grunted a bit, but he was also interested. The training he got from Kakashi was more grueling than anything else before it; almost frantic, dare he say, as if the man were preparing them for something very hard. Maybe the Chuunin exams in July?

Kakashi looked at Sasuke, nonverbally telling him 'I'm watching you'. Who would expect that Sasuke'd be the instigator of trouble? To be exact, he had persuaded the others to help him unmask Kakashi (not that they needed much prodding). Curious like a cat, indeed.

But Kakashi shouldn't be getting lost in thought, even if the annoyed looks on his team's faces were very amusing. He said, "the one who got the closest is Naruto. While I'm not teaching you more ninjutsu, I _did_ get you guys -and girl- an Affinity Scroll. It uses Fuuinjutsu to do the job of Chakra paper, except it's more thorough and can be reused. So, shall we?"

The Scrolls had all the elements, plus Yin and Yang, symbolized on a graph. With a 'ladies first' from Kakashi, Sakura channeled Chakra into the paper. Kakashi explained that the way they lit up, Sakura had Water and Earth both as her primary elements.

Unbalanced Chakra-wise, Sakura had a nature affinity for both Yin and Yang. Her affinities were almost as Kakashi had expected, with her Yin-Yang Release and the speed at which she learned Suiton ninjutsu, but the Earth Affinity was unexpected. 'Could it be...?' He thought.

Naruto, on the other hand, had Wind as his Affinity and Fire as his secondary element. Just like Sakura, he was a natural for both Yin and Yang Release, though he hadn't learned any jutsu for the latter.

(Both he and Sakura could use Yin-Yang Release for sensory, though, unlike Kushina, who used Yin Release-based mental powers as the medium, similarly to the Yamanaka clan and Kurenai. Hopefully Kurenai wouldn't mind helping Sakura with the basics of sensory, though he didn't know what she'd ask for in return. If he remembered correctly (and he always did), the woman was a Sensor. Or maybe….)

Sasuke, on the other hand, looked at his results askance: Fire was his secondary element, his Affinity being Lightning. He didn't give much attention to his affinity for Yin Release. He simply asked, "aren't Uchiha supposed to have a Fire Affinity? Did you know about this, Kakashi?"

"Your Academy teacher told me he suspected that Fire wasn't your primary element," the man admitted, "still, I didn't quite expect you'd have the same Affinity that I do. As for the other question, I can name two Uchiha without a Fire Affinity you used to interact with daily."

Sasuke flinched, but he had to know. So, he simply said, "who?"

Kakashi said, "Uchiha Shisui, with a Wind Affinity and Uchiha Mikoto, with Lightning. In hindsight, I should have expected it. People inherit their Affinity from the opposite-sex parent more often than not."

"So I inherited Mom's element," Sasuke commented in a whisper, with the rest of them pretending they didn't hear anything, and that they couldn't see the tears going down his cheeks before he turned away.

After a few minutes of silence, Naruto said, "what about my parents? Do you know what elements they had?"

Kakashi nodded. He said, "Uzumaki Kushina had a Wind Affinity as well, though she was very good at Water Release. As for your father… well, he was a Fire type, though I'm not sure what else he used," fudging the truth a bit. After all, he hadn't seen everything his sensei was capable of.

"I see," Naruto said, turning away from the others in a similar way to what Sasuke did earlier.

* * *

Team Seven, minus their sensei, went to the Hokage's office to be informed of who was to teach them in Kakashi's absence. The Hokage was a man in his late sixties, with plenty of wrinkles and scars. His chin was covered by a white goatee and his dark brown eyes were partially hidden by the Hat of his Office.

"Hokage-sama," Sakura said, "we were told to report here for our tutor."

Hiruzen nodded. He said, "yes; as it happens, you are talking to him. Congratulations - you three are going to be taught by the Hokage himself," puffing up a bit. Then, he said, "uh, Biwako isn't around, right?" A bit scared.

"I don't think so," Naruto said, shivering a bit. Then, he said, "Biwako-baasama is scary!"

Sakura and Sasuke felt some exasperation at how undignified their village leader was acting, but having met his wife -however briefly- kept them from commenting. _Scary woman_! They both thought, though it was tinged with admiration; Sakura saw the woman as a role model, while Sasuke had a soft spot for strong women (mainly because his 'admirers' were not only annoying, but weak and easy to influence).

The three of them were given instructions on how to find and enter the Hokage's training ground; they also gave a bit of blood to allow the protective measures to recognize them.

* * *

Training Ground Zero, also known in ANBU by the cheeky name of 'Ground Zero' was the place that had the unfortunate fate of being used by all Hokage for their personal training. On an unrelated note, the ANBU who most often got to repair the place was Wildcat, also known as Tenzo of the Mokuton.

It was there that the three Genin of Team Kakashi were being instructed by the Professor. Sarutobi Hiruzen had fully mastered nearly everything there was about being a shinobi, and it showed.

He instructed Sakura (who wanted to be a medic-nin) in anatomy and the Water Element exercise of fully drying a green leaf, Naruto in the Wind and Fire Element exercise of cutting a leaf clean through and burning a leaf without the fire spreading elsewhere, and Sasuke in improving his Fire Release and wire work, and making a leaf vibrate and crinkle with one's Chakra, the Lightning Element exercise.

According to the man, it would take them months to achieve even this level of elemental manipulation, which was why he taught them it so early. Sasuke completed the Lightning Leaf exercise with minimal instruction, in less than two weeks, making even the Hokage gape in disbelief. Still, he told them that he would leave the teaching of ninjutsu, if any, to Kakashi.

They were all thoroughly instructed in genjutsu, tactics and knowledge - dispelling genjutsu without using a hand-seal to concentrate was a skill Sarutobi considered vital, so he made sure to drill them on it. To further motivate the boys, he informed them that Sharingan-based genjutsu could usually only be escaped without a hand-seal, because the victim's hands might be too busy fighting the Sharingan user in taijutsu to make a hand-seal.

Their taijutsu was given consideration as well, but Naruto got the brunt of that type of training, since he didn't have an actual style. Hiruzen was one of two in the Leaf (the other being Gai) to have enough skill with the Drunken Fist taijutsu style to teach it flawlessly - not the instinctive style some people used alongside sake, but the original Drunken Fist, though it _could_ be used well while under the influence, too.

The man's skills as a shinobi reminded the three Genin of Kakashi, except… more.

Hiruzen-sensei (as he insisted to be called while teaching them, and even the boys didn't dare disobey) knew at least as many ninjutsu as Kakashi did, except he had mastered most of them to a point even their Jounin sensei hadn't, had higher Chakra reserves, more refined Taijutsu and Chakra Control, FAR better skill with Genjutsu and weapons, about equal physical strength and was about as nimble with his hand-seals. The only way in which he was inferior to Kakashi was his overall speed.

The man was even a Sensor, and taught Naruto and Sakura a few things on that front. Naruto, on the other hand, coveted one thing in particular.

"What was that clone jutsu, Old- uh, Hiruzen-sensei?" Naruto asked, interest in his voice.

"That was the Shadow Clone jutsu, Naruto; it makes solid clones without needing elemental manipulation. Before you ask, I might teach it to you - later," Hiruzen said.

Kakashi took three weeks to return (from a mission to Wave, he informed them); in that time, the three Genin had improved a lot under the tutelage of the Professor, mainly in areas that Kakashi wasn't quite so proficient in such as Wind manipulation and Genjutsu. While, according to the Sandaime, his wife was much better than him at using Wind Release (as well as Anatomy, being a medical nin), he was still good enough that it didn't matter.

The Sandaime was an incredibly good teacher, who could get his point across without handing the students everything on a silver platter; the three Genin were a lot less reckless and more tactical than they had been before being taught by the Professor; their jutsu repertory (other than genjutsu) still hadn't increased, though.

Sasuke had a few questions to ask of his male teammate. After the Sandaime left them to their devices, he shot Naruto a look. Sakura left them to their devices without prompting - unexpected, Sasuke idly mused.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, eyebrows slightly raised.

Sasuke mused over how to phrase his questions. Eventually, he said, "how come you were close to dead-last? You're good enough to have been higher than most of our peers in grades, not barely above Chouji."

Naruto shook his head. He said, "well, part of it is that I get really nervous and tense the time before written tests. That only happens with them, not other kinds of tests, mind you. The other problem is that without a set taijutsu style, I lost to all our classmates who take things seriously, or are taijutsu-oriented.

Finally, I never put much effort into improving my throwing of weapons - I was decent to begin with, and that was enough for me. That's why I was only good at Genjutsu at the Academy. Not to mention that I'm unable to use the Bunshin no Jutsu for some reason, no matter how much I practiced it or improved my Chakra Control."

Sasuke nodded. He said, "you must have had extensive Chakra training, if you were allowed to learn how to manipulate Yin Release Chakra. If one hasn't gotten used to molding balanced Chakra before branching out, it can confuse you, forming the need to retrain yourself in Chakra Control."

"Yeah, I only recently learned how to do that; I used to let the hand-seals do it for me, but that wastes Chakra, makes them less subtle, takes more hand-seals and doesn't work with higher level jutsu," Naruto said. Then, he continued with, "this might just be the longest conversation we've had except when we're planning our strategy for mock missions," obviously unable to resist his obnoxious nature.

"Feh," Sasuke said or, rather, scoffed out, though he had to admit that the clumsy fool was right. Then, he said, "by the way, how come the Sandaime gave you fewer days off than he did us?"

Naruto stiffened. He said, "well, you see, my clan were fast healers, both in our Chakra refilling and our wounds closing."

"Your clan?" Sasuke asked. Then, his mind went to his mother's friend, who was from the Uzumaki clan. "Wait, could you mold a lot of Chakra for me? As much as you can release for a few seconds, and cloak yourself in it?"

Naruto looked puzzled, but nodded. He put his hands in the Ram seal and the air around the blond boy was saturated with yellow-colored, visible Chakra. He didn't seem strained; it was possible that that wasn't really his maximum output, but it was better not to call him out on it. According to Sasuke's mother, her friend had had more Chakra than the Hokage - in his prime, not old age.

Sasuke looked at the lightshow for a bit more, until it suddenly ended, startling him. He shook himself out of his trance. He said, "so you really are an Uzumaki. I never made the connection, but my mother had a friend from that clan."

Naruto suddenly went very still. He said, "do you have any pictures of her? Your mother's friend, I mean."

Sasuke thought of the photos he methodically avoided, then looked at Naruto's hopeful face, and suddenly caved in, despite himself. He said, "I have some, but most are really old. I think that they didn't see each other often when they grew up. Was she a redhead with violet eyes?" Referring to Naruto's mother.

"I think so," Naruto said, "I haven't seen any photos of her before. Her name was Kushina."

* * *

Sasuke had thought that he would feel horrible after dragging up those childhood memories; instead, he felt cleansed, in a way. He hadn't expected that, or for Naruto to be capable of making intelligent conversation. His desire for revenge was by no means gone, but that didn't mean he'd completely close himself off.

* * *

After a bit more training by a returned Kakashi (where mission protocol and tactics, physical conditioning and things like escaping from and tying ropes were the main focus, with Chakra Control the secondary one, largely because Sasuke was behind the other two in that respect), the three Genin managed to get their teacher to ask for a C-rank mission.

In other news, the Sandaime had decided to take Naruto as his apprentice; he also taught Naruto two jutsu, the Shadow Clone and the Transparent Escape, because the man expected the 'curse' of Team Seven to strike and make their first mission outside the village go up in rank. According to him, those jutsu would be very useful for escaping dangerous situations.

The Shadow Clone took Naruto only a few hours to learn; on the other hand, the Transparent Escape was a lot harder, and he was still struggling with it days later, until he realized it had a lot of common points with the Transformation jutsu and the basic Clone (he knew the principles behind the Clone, even if he was unable to use it). He still wasn't able to maintain it for longer than a few minutes, though.

He hadn't neglected the Shadow Clone, of course: the Third taught him how to use them in combat tactically and strategically during those days.

Sarutobi smiled at Team Seven, especially Naruto, in pride. He said, "you've been cleared by your sensei for a C-rank," gave a small speech and handed Kakashi a scroll.

"What does it say, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

The man told them it was a C-rank mission to the Land of Tea. A collector from its capital wanted them to get a tablet supposedly made by the Sage of the Six Paths from a local museum. They were not to be identified as being from Konoha, or make known that that particular collector was the one to hire them.

"Wait," Sakura said, "we're going to steal something from a museum?" Incredulity and worry in her tone.

Kakashi said, "if you three are going to continue as ninjas and climb in ranking, you will do things a lot worse in risk and morality than rob a civilian establishment."

Sakura hung her head. While her father had been a ninja for a short while and her civilian mother had implied she was descended from a shinobi clan, they acted in a way typical of civilians. Her only true ninja influence had been Ino's parents.

"Either way, that museum is a known property of a Yakuza gang, so it's free game as far as the Land of Tea's government goes. Still, it wouldn't by good for our village's reputation if it became known it was us, so you know what to do," Kakashi lectured, making Sakura sigh in relief and Sasuke look at his shirt in disappointment for a split second.

* * *

The three Genin set out from the village's entrance. Naruto was enthusiastic, a skip in his step and easy laughter on his lips. When questioned by Sakura, the boy said it was the first time he was seeing the world outside Konoha.

Sakura wondered about that - even if Naruto hadn't had actual guardians, didn't the orphanage take the children on excursions every now and then? Still, she made sure to ask with tact. "Naruto," the girl said, "you never traveled out of Konoha? Not even a bit? How come?"

Naruto frowned a bit, then cheered up and said that his guardians were overprotective, even 'Baa-sama'. Sakura could tell he was hiding something and was worried that she had hit a nerve again, but Naruto didn't seem angry at her.

Sasuke realized there was more to the story than Naruto was saying, but knew it wasn't time to sate his curiosity. He couldn't help that trait, even if it was the reason behind him seeing first-hand his mother's last- no, he couldn't think like that.

Naruto had a few questions of his own, mostly on certain political nuances. He said, "so, what's the relationship between a country without a Hidden Village and another country's shinobi?"

Even Sakura looked at Kakashi in interest, since studying books could only get one so far. The man said, "we usually aren't allowed to do missions on another country's soil, though we can pass through, but there's a loophole: if a citizen of the country itself hires us for a mission, we can do that mission without problems.

Of course, officially, nothing illegal by Tea's laws, in this case, is allowed. But organized crime is another loophole, kind of. The Daimyo of Fire -and most ninja countries' Daimyo- has nothing against us busting up any operation run by organized crime, so lesser nations can't protest to anyone and are forced to tolerate such things, not that they usually care about Yakuza.

Of course, some missions are critical to Konoha's future, so we simply try to break the laws without anyone knowing it was shinobi, much less from Konoha, but that mostly happens in wartime." _Or with Root,_ he added in his mind.

Kakashi finished with a last piece of information. He said, "being hired by one Yakuza group to kill another is also fair game. Debt collection by ninjas has been outlawed even when the target is another ninja, though, by all five Kage and multiple Daimyo - separately. Tsunade-sama might have been at fault for that," chuckling a bit at the last part, thinking back to the many counts of property damage caused by her.

Not to mention her apprentice killing a ninja team who unwisely decided to use Tsunade's hemophobia against her, in full view of countless civilians. He chuckled even more when he thought of how much paperwork and shouting the poor Sandaime must have had to deal with because of all that, then shivered, resolving never to accept the hat if there was another option.

Sakura perked up at the mention of Tsunade; the woman was the idol of many a young kunoichi, though Kakashi knew better than anyone that behind every legend was someone who was all too human.

They had reached their client's place and were about to meet him. A maid offered them drinks (which they declined because of Kakashi signaling them to), and they waited in an opulent room.

There was more than one piece of decoration made of silver and even some that were made of gold. Fortunately, the result wasn't gaudy; whoever this Chao Bao was, he had good taste.

The man who entered was middle-aged and somewhat short with very short black hair, a clean-shaven face and looks that reminded Kakashi of Gai's student-clone, except with small eyebrows. The collector said, "greetings; my name is Wang Chao Bao," giving a once over to the four ninjas; to his credit, he didn't pay much attention to the ages of the Genin beyond his initial surprise.

Then, Chao Bao got into the gist immediately. He said, "I trust you have been briefed?"

Kakashi said they had been, and asked if there was any extra information they needed to know or would be helpful.

The shorter, older man told them of how the Yakuza group running the museum, the Wasabi Family, had a bitter rivalry with another group called the Wagarashi Family, and that they might have hired ninjas of their own to protect against the latter.

"Then, why is it a C-rank?" Kakashi asked.

Chao said, "frankly speaking, it's a slim chance. Not to mention few people care about relics of the Sage, for some reason, so that particular section isn't likely to have strong security."

The team had managed the mission flawlessly. Nobody realized they were shinobi from Konoha, the heist went perfectly, they managed to frame the Wagarashi Family; all was well. The four of them headed towards the meeting point they'd set up with Chao beforehand.

Then, three obvious kunoichi showed up along with one male shinobi, with Chao held at kunai-point. The eldest one was blonde with dark eyes, and her emotionless face was very intimidating.

Naruto froze up, while Sakura didn't fare much better. Sasuke glared at their adversaries, but Kakashi was apparently calm as ever. He said, "Yugito the Blue Flare, a Kumo kunoichi who's known for completing missions no matter what, even killing her own comrades in the process. I couldn't have met someone more distasteful if I tried."

Yugito smirked, though Naruto could tell there was little emotion behind it. She said, "are you sure about that, _Friend-killer Kakashi_?"

"By the way," Kakashi continued as if Yugito had said nothing, "this woman may contain the Two-tailed Monster Cat, if rumors are to be believed. So, she is what is known as a Jinchuuriki. A fully grown woman and Jounin, too, not someone inexperienced. You guys leave her to me. That's an order," revealing his Sharingan.

Yugito hissed in annoyance at Konoha's knowledge of her status, but the younger blond woman still had a kunai at Chao's throat. The moment Kakashi looked at her with the uncovered doujutsu, she made sure to slit the civilian's throat.

* * *

*This training is based on (my) real life. My cat used to get into my bedroom and shit on my sheets; now, I'm perfectly capable of detecting a cat passing by and always close the door when I exit it. Yeah, ouch.

Trivia:

1)Sarutobi Hiruzen, age 68-69 stats:

Nin: 5+, Tai: 5+, Gen: 5, Int: 5+ Str: 3.5, Spd: 3.5+, Stam: 4+, HandS: 5

Total: 37+ (High Kage)

Natures: ALL of the basic natures.

Background: with his wife alive and the Fourth Hokage having resolved many of the problems that had plagued the last few years of his first reign (Minato became Hokage at 22 rather than 23, so he reigned a year longer), Sarutobi is a lot more energetic and much less swamped with work. It helps that Biwako is someone (the only one) Danzo is afraid of.

2)Katon: RasenMagatama, Element: Fire, Rank: S, (Future) Inventor: Uzumaki Naruto

Properties: Uses Uchiha methods of heightening the heat, Sarutobi methods of making the fire denser and the usual compression of the Chakra itself that the Rasengan is known for to turn everything to ashes. Can evaporate solid things and even dehydrate the targets on a microscopic level causing titanic damage to skin and fat stores, if it doesn't outright eradicate said target.

This jutsu is shaped like a comma, with the main body housing the sphere of the Rasengan.

Extra Info: Considering Fire isn't Naruto's actual affinity and how dangerous fire is to begin with, Naruto will have to learn how to throw the Rasen-shuriken first before even his clones go anywhere near experimenting with this.

This is far into the future, considering Naruto hasn't learned the Rasengan.

(Yes, I thought up the shape myself after seeing the Yasaka no Magatama and Sasuke's Blaze Release jutsu. I don't know if anyone else also came up with such a Fire Rasengan.)


	3. Interlude: Mizuki (Ch 2,5)

Interlude: Mizuki

* * *

Mizuki had always known the reason he was shunted off into the Academy post. His ban from promotion may have not been official, but that made little difference - he wasn't trusted, plain and simple, especially considering he was practically clanless because he gave up the Hatake name; even if most of Konoha thought it was to distance himself from the White Fang's legacy of shame, rather than Kakashi and his blind loyalty. Well, it didn't help that he had a great talent for the medical arts, but mostly used it to heal himself and strengthen his body, making him seem very selfish.

Those gods-damned hypocritical bastards had him teaching some Academy brats about Anatomy and medical jutsu, of all things! At least, his healing skills were something he only had to use when teaching and in emergencies; that was a plus. Not to mention that he could sometimes take out his anger on the brats in taijutsu class, though he suspected the higher-ups didn't mind, since it toughened them up. If they minded, he'd have found out, less than subtly, anyway.

After all, the Konohagakure Ninja Academy was monitored more closely than the Hokage residence and the hospital were - combined. He had already suspected that half the insects were obscure Kikaichu breeds -unless there existed invisible ones, in which case even more-; that the Hokage's office, being in the same building, was more than close enough to the classrooms that a Kage-level shinobi, with only moderate effort and focus, could listen in on any class; that the clan children reported to their parents; that most of the Academy staff were handpicked for loyalty; that rookie ANBU (sometimes veterans) often spied on the lessons, as did some retired shinobi.

The Fourth Hokage had made the Academy an unassailable location, and Mizuki couldn't help admiring the man even more for it.

He had not quite realized the level of vigilance, though, until a kunoichi by the name of Suzume started teaching at the Academy, four years after the Yondaime's death. That particular woman was _subtle_ ; Mizuki had lost a spar to her in the past, a slip of a woman who had an Academy Student's level of Chakra and physical strength, and mediocre speed at best, because he had been tricked so well that he only knew he was poisoned after he had returned to consciousness. Thus, nobody realized that the girls of the Academy were being groomed as future fangirls, or so it seemed.

Less than two weeks later, Suzume was led to the Torture and Interrogations department, never to come out again. Mizuki shuddered to think what might have happened to her. It was an annoying setback, being captured himself. However, thanks to Sasori-sama's other spy (a black-haired woman; he didn't know her name), he managed to escape before he gave away any of the puppeteer's secrets, little the worse for wear, avoiding the grim fate traitors like him (ha!) suffered.

Konoha may have suspected Mizuki, but he was mainly monitored in the Academy. Otherwise, the man had been free to use the various methods Sasori-sama had developed for communication from a distance. And now that he was away from that hellhole, he would meet up with his master and work on getting stronger for real; with his three new jutsu, the Shadow Clone, the Shuriken Shadow Clone and the other one, it should be feasible.

* * *

Mizuki's stats:  
Nin: 4, Tai: 3.5, Gen: 2+, Int: 4, Str: 3*, Spd: 3.5*, Stam: 4+, HandS: 2.5  
Total: 27 (On par with a Rookie JOUNIN. And his Chakra and weapons handling are Elite Jounin level, nearly KAGE),  
The plus sign acts as +0.25,  
-Mizuki is a Raiton user who's excellent at Chakra Flow and boosting his body (*unboosted stats); unfortunately for him, his speed and strength are slightly unimpressive otherwise, and he can't use Yang Release and the Armor at the same time; Yang Release is also the only way for him to boost his speed.

( **He needed none of those skills to have Naruto dead to rights** )  
-Extra Stats: Fuuinjutsu: 1, Bukijutsu: 4+, Chakra Control: 4.5, Traps: 2.5, Charisma: 2.5, Unpredictability: 3.5, Stealth: 2.5  
-Natures: Lightning Release (affinity), Earth Release, Yang Release  
-Notable Jutsu: Lightning Armor Flowing (A rudimentary, reverse engineered version of the Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode that can also affect weapons he's holding, but only boosts strength (in the case of the weapons, it makes Raiton Chakra Flow easy, obviously)), Chakra Strings, Earth Release: Underground Fish Projection, Mystical Palm

Background information: taught how to use Lightning Release by the White Fang, his Uncle Sakumo, Mizuki (formerly of the Hatake clan) displayed an astonishing talent, both in that, and later Yang Release. Highly resentful of Konoha, he denounced his name because of the ever-loyal Kakashi. Has invented a few powerful jutsu, and slipped off the radar just far enough for most of them to be undocumented.

Konoha DOES know his Chakra reserves and Control are pretty much Kage level, but they underestimated his subtlety. Sakura got started on the path of a medic-nin through Mizuki's teachings.

For some unknown reason, he refuses to learn the Sealing Arts, despite idolizing the Fourth Hokage.  
Alignment: Lawful Evil (?)

* * *

Yang Release: it's the nature that uses Yang Release Chakra, which is Chakra with more physical than spiritual energy; the opposite of Yin Release.

Yin-Yang Release, on the other hand, doesn't use Chakra at all, only pure physical and spiritual energy; which may be why it's so rare.


	4. Black Eyes Turn Red (Ch3)

**Chapter 3: Black Eyes Turn Red**

 _Naruto froze up, while Sakura didn't fare much better. Sasuke glared at their adversaries, but Kakashi was apparently calm as ever. He said, "Yugito the Blue Flare, a Kumo kunoichi who's known for completing missions no matter what, even killing her own comrades. I couldn't have met someone more distasteful if I tried."_

 _Yugito smirked, though Naruto could tell there was little emotion behind it. She said, "are you sure about that, Friend-killer Kakashi?"_

 _"By the way," Kakashi continued as if Yugito had said nothing, "this woman may contain the Two-tailed Monster Cat, if rumors are to be believed. So, she is what is known as a Jinchuuriki. A fully grown woman and Jounin, too, not someone inexperienced. You guys leave her to me. That's an order," revealing his Sharingan._

 _Yugito hissed in annoyance at Konoha's knowledge of her status, but the younger blond woman still had a kunai at Chao's throat. The moment Kakashi looked at her with the uncovered doujutsu, she made sure to slit the civilian's throat._

 _That moment, all hell broke loose; the younger blond woman turned on her Jinchuuriki captain, while Kakashi threw an explosive tag laden kunai between the two women, forcing Yugito to leave her hypnotized subordinate and leading Yugito away from the Genin._

* * *

 **Naruto POV**

Naruto couldn't believe how quickly the situation escalated - he had expected negotiations, but neither Kakashi nor the Kumo-nin bothered with such a thing.

"Naruto! Move!" The boy heard, and didn't question his male teammate; he simply reacted and jumped sideways, which was fortunate, because the big breasted, younger blond woman had thrown her kunai at him, having thrown off the genjutsu.

Sakura and Sasuke tried to help him, but were intercepted by the male Genin, a white-haired boy their age, and a redhead who looked like she was slightly older. "Your fight is with us," the redhead declared, and Naruto stopped paying attention to his teammates and turned to the blonde chuunin (?) who was stalking towards him.

He dropped to the ground, which was wise, because a few ice spears had nearly impaled him.

"Nice introduction," Naruto said, "and I'm Naruto, a Genin."

"Charmed, I'm sure," the woman replied in a deadpan, "my name is Samui; there's no need for you to know anything else, because you will die here."

"By the way, was that ice a Kekkei Genkai?" Naruto asked her, realization suddenly dawning on him.

The woman got close to him and engaged him in taijutsu, not replying. Naruto dodged, this time fully focused. It didn't take long at all for Naruto to realize he was outclassed, in spite of her injuries from the previous explosion. At least the woman, despite her cool demeanor, was prone to taunting her enemies; he'd be sure to take advantage of that.

Samui said, "after I'm finished with you, I'll go support captain Yugito; even Hatake won't be able to save himself against two Jounin - or maybe I'll kill your little teammates first. I could tell you're the weakest of the three, which is why I targeted you myself."

Naruto could feel his blood boiling, but he didn't rise to the bait. Unfortunately, Samui wasn't playing around. She went through a few hand-seals, which Naruto tried to stop by throwing shuriken, but he was attacked by a clone of the woman before the weapons left his hands.

Fortunately, being a sensor, he managed to notice and impale the clone instead, but by then, it was too late. The clone turned into ice, but a dome of strange mirrors made of ice had formed around him. Then, he couldn't think at all; he could only dodge the ice spears that came from every direction.

A couple of minutes later, Naruto was full of gashes - it seemed that the woman was, in fact, slowed down by her own injuries, because dodging was becoming easier for him gradually.*

And then, Sasuke attacked the mirrors from the outside, which did absolutely nothing, even though the heat his Goukakyuu no jutsu (Great Fireball technique) produced was great.

'Wait,' Naruto thought, 'shit!'

Ice spears headed for Sasuke, who was panting, open to attack.

Without pausing to think, Naruto threw a lot of shuriken, redirecting the icicles enough to miss Sasuke, except one, which Sasuke managed to slap away with his bare hand.

Sasuke was looking at Naruto with an open mouth, his surprise clear to all. His eyes were red, with two comma marks in the right iris and one in the left one. Naruto couldn't understand why Sasuke broke his cool façade.

The black-haired boy came close to Naruto and looked him in the eyes, saying, "you're going to explain later, got it?!"

Samui said, "two Uchiha? This is my lucky day," smirking and sounding much less strained, her injuries mostly gone.

'Not good,' Naruto thought, 'she's a medic-nin? Like the rest wasn't enough. Why is she fighting in the front lines if she is one, I wonder…?'

He shoved the strange behavior Sasuke exhibited to the side and they stood back-to-back, their teamwork unaffected.

Samui again started throwing ice spears, which the two boys did their best to dodge, successfully, looking for an opening, which they were given when the enemy kunoichi started a one-handed hand-seal sequence, because she exited the mirrors after a few of them.

Both Naruto and Sasuke attacked her, but she shot shuriken at them with her free hand, which they avoided with ease, but not without delay. By the time they resumed, Samui had finished her sequence, and the mirror dome froze over completely, making a huge sphere of ice.

The woman teleported away through another mirror, but not without receiving a parting shot: Sasuke's Housenka (Phoenix Sage Fire) had shuriken of his own inside, one of which scored a hit on her shoulder.

Naruto shivered because of the terrible cold. He said, "Sasuke, I can't feel my toes and fingers."

Sasuke simply unleashed another Katon, which warmed both of them up. He said, "do you have a plan, Naruto? We'll freeze to death if we don't think of something."

Naruto wracked his brain. He said, "what if we make her waste her Chakra faster than us?"

"How do we do that?" Sasuke asked, refraining from calling Naruto a numbskull or something of the like, which was the way Naruto knew the other boy was scared.

Naruto concentrated. 'Sasuke's fireball from before melted the mirrors a bit, then they regenerated all at the same time, as if it's automatic; but I doubt it was without cost for Samui, and the rest of the ice doesn't seem as durable. I've got only a few explosive tags, access to Shadow Clones and Sakura's Yang Release-based strength, albeit it destroys my hand. Oh, I can't wait,' he thought, his blood boiling again, but this time, in a good way.

Out loud, he said, "bring me your explosive tags, Sasuke," telling the other boy the basics of the plan.

The other boy nodded and gave him a pouch which contained a lot more tags than Naruto had access to; higher yield as well.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu," Naruto said, creating a few Shadow Clones. All of them went up to one of the weak points of the ice prison and started punching it, which soon dispelled them, one by one.

Naruto was unfazed, and simply sent more of them, which lasted longer and made a huge hole on the prison. Before they even dispelled, he sent more of them, this time armed with explosive tags, which they rammed into the point of breach. At the same time, Sasuke used his Great Fireball on the other side of the sphere.

Able to see the size of the hole even before the smoke fully cleared, Naruto used Shunshin no jutsu (Body Flicker technique) to leave, then sent a few Shadow Clones to attack the kunoichi, while at the same time, did a few hand-seals as his hands were hidden by the smoke those clones' creation produced.

Samui's attacks on the clones kept missing, but she soon dispelled the genjutsu. Fortunately for Sasuke (who wasn't as good at the Body Flicker), the prison shattered along with Samui's concentration. The kunoichi simply laughed and drew a sword.

"You two are a major pain in the neck, do you know that," the blond woman said, but her cool was shattered; instead, she looked like she was having fun.

Naruto laughed too, long and hard. He said, "this is great! Thank you for this dance, Samui!" Knowing he had lost himself in battle-lust, but not caring. His breathing was coming in pants; he didn't feel tired, but refreshed instead.

He sent a few more Shadow Clones, but this time, they had explosive tags stuck on them. They engaged Samui with other clones transformed into giant staves, tricking her into coming in close; then, they exploded.

Despite that, Samui just kept on coming; this time, dispelling the clones with thrown weapons. As she kept at it, Sasuke intervened by intercepting her weapons, which allowed Naruto's clones to get in close, grabbing the tags their dispelled brethren left from the ground.

By that time, Samui had substituted with a branch from a tree, but Sasuke did some delicate wire-work to ensnare her; Naruto didn't bother thinking over how they had been able to follow her move; he didn't miss his chance, and punched her in the nose with enhanced strength, driving said bone into her brain.

!

A horrible screech could be heard, and Chakra that felt like fire and heat and sheer, unadulterated **power** was present. Before they could understand it on a conscious level, it disappeared.

"What- what the hell was that!?" Sasuke said, then fell over, covering his eyes.

"Are you all right, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, though he felt some pain in his eyes too.

"I just overused my Sharingan," the darker-haired boy said. Then, he said, "you should shut it off too - I could tell you were nearing this point, too."

"Huh? Shut off what?" Naruto asked, a sinking feeling in his chest telling him he was about to find out about the previous comments' origin. "Besides, I have plenty of Chakra left," he said, not willing to admit to weakness.

Sasuke had a truly unreadable look on his face. He said, "never mind, I'll tell you later. Now, try to calm down; close your eyes and cover them with your forearm, and control your Chakra output. You've awakened a doujutsu."

Naruto didn't need to be told which doujutsu it was - Sasuke's and Samui's reactions and words said it all. He managed to stop seeing the world through superhumanly clear eyesight, so he assumed he managed to turn the doujutsu off.

* * *

 **Sasuke**

Sasuke could not believe it: Uzumaki or not, Naruto was descended from the Uchiha clan too! He knew from his father that only a true Uchiha could shut off the Sharingan - someone who stole the Sharingan would have it always on.

And there the evidence was: pure black eyes, like Naruto's eyes had always been - which, in hindsight, was the first clue, since very few people outside the Uchiha clan had completely black eyes.(*2)

"Are you all right, Sasuke?" The blond asked.

Sasuke shook himself off. He said, "I should be asking you that. This is the first time you've witnessed death, much less caused it, right?"

Naruto looked at the blood on his hands. He said, "you're right. But why don't I feel anything? Wasn't I supposed to be broken up about it?"

Sasuke could tell Naruto was about to launch into self-recrimination, so he stopped him. The slightly older boy said, "don't beat yourself up over it. As long as you don't start killing for fun, or to _test your capacity_ , there's no need to be afraid of yourself."

"Okay," Naruto said, "but while I didn't enjoy killing, I did like the adrenaline rush of the fight."

Was that an understatement; Sasuke could tell Naruto's blood had been heated to a boil in excitement during the fight. "You are an Uchiha," Sasuke said at last, and saying it out loud sounded so final. Then, he said, "fighting is in our blood. As long as you don't seek to kill without real reason, you shouldn't worry - I have seen the face of a psychopath, and you are nothing like him."

He could tell Naruto realized just how hard it was for Sasuke to talk about that topic. Neither of them spoke after that, but it was a somewhat comfortable silence.

Fortunately, Sakura and Kakashi were close enough to see and were not impostors according to his Sharingan, so he could rest easy.

* * *

 **Kakashi**

For their first taste of ninja battles, it went really well, from what the man caught. The buxom blonde was a Tokubetsu Jounin according to the Bingo Book, and even if she was injured, and was slowed down and expended her Chakra quickly due to that, it was a great feat.

Sakura had been left with the redheaded kunoichi after the only male of the Kumo team had lowered his guard and been knocked out, according to Sakura herself. From there, Sakura didn't use her jutsu, but stalled instead - both kunoichi had a lot of stamina, so a battle of attrition wasn't something the other girl, Karui, had minded.

Kakashi had intervened just in time: when the redhead drew her sword and started scoring hits, but the boys had already finished by the time he had turned to their fight again.

Sakura said, "you seem really tired, Kakashi-sensei," faint worry in her voice.

"Maa, don't you worry about it, Sakura. I simply used a type of jutsu that takes a lot out of me. Now that I'm out of the fight, I'm just fine," Kakashi said, suppressing the yawn he was about to let out and hiding his shivers.

"If you say so, sensei," his female student said, dropping the matter but obviously not convinced.

What did Kakashi do to be saddled with such cheeky students? Well, except for killing a lot of people. And failing Obito. And Rin. And Kushina-san. And Minato-sensei. The man sighed. 'This took a turn for the serious fast,' he thought.

The suppression of the Nibi's Chakra using the Sharingan took a lot out of him - he couldn't help but realize that he was out of practice with the Eye of Hypnotism, and that things could have easily taken a fatal turn for his students.

"Sensei," Sakura said, "is there any risk of war with the Cloud?"

Kakashi shook his head, snapped out of his musings. He said, "no, that's unlikely. We met in neutral lands, and I left Yugito alive, though crippled. I have no doubt she'll recover in a couple of months at most, so keep your guard up on missions above D-rank."

Sakura left it at that, and Kakashi was glad that apparently, she didn't make the connection between Jinchuuriki and Naruto.

Of course, without him using the beast's Chakra, it wouldn't be obvious. 'Strange, isn't it, though? Naruto felt strong enough emotions to awaken the Sharingan, but there was no burst of his Bijuu's Chakra, despite what Jiraiya-sama told me. Could those two facts be connected? Well, at least, Minato-sensei's father's origin is a mystery I have answers to now. Too bad it's too late to tell sensei,' he thought, getting depressed again.

After returning to the village, Team Seven (including the sensei) reported to the Hokage personally. The Hokage's office -located in the Academy building, on a separate wing- was large enough to house officials, but small enough not to allow intruders to seriously outnumber the Hokage, even if he was on his own.

It was rather well-lit, because of the view it provided to the entire village, but the glass windows were all but unbreakable, the only entrance other than the doors being the smallest window, which was even harder to infiltrate because of the seals that would trap anyone there at any time the Hokage or his ANBU guard detail did the corresponding jutsu.

"Mission failed, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, not elaborating further.

"Oh?" The Hokage said, "if it were that simple, you wouldn't have come to report to me without delay."

"Indeed," Kakashi said, "we faced a near S-ranked threat, the now confirmed Jinchuuriki of the Nibi, Nii Yugito, to be exact. Along with her were a B-ranked threat in possession of Hyouton and two young Genin, all from Kumo."

The Hokage took a long drag from his pipe. He said, "a Hyouton user, again? You have all the luck, Kakashi. And a Jinchuuriki too? Were they trying to start a war!?" Looking stressed to Kakashi's practiced eye.

"It's possible they were trying to abduct one of my students, or even all of them," Kakashi commented, his tone nonchalant to anyone but the Hokage, who looked at him grimly.

"I haven't seen you this furious in a long time," the older man commented, "I won't ask whether you eliminated Nii Yugito, but what condition was she when you left her?"

Kakashi said, "nothing much; I simply partially severed her spinal cord, after I shattered her arms and legs, all with the Bijuu Chakra temporarily suppressed," and _smiled_ , making his students recoil. He said, "Kakashi the Crippler, or Bone-Crusher Kakashi. It sounds much better than my current moniker, doesn't it? Oh, I gave her some medical aid -by healing her bones the wrong way- but, at least, I also made sure she wouldn't die; now, that would too painless, right?"

The Hokage shook his head. He said, "you're so overprotective, Kakashi. I didn't expect you to bond with your team so quickly. Anything else to report?"

Kakashi told the Hokage about the tablet supposedly belonging to the Sage and gave it to him. Then, Kakashi made a gesture. The Hokage went through a few hand-seals, protecting from eavesdroppers, and waved the ANBU away.

"All right Kakashi, you have my full attention. What happened?" The Hokage said, serious again.

"Naruto," the man said, and nothing else, knowing the boy would understand.

The Hokage looked into Naruto's eyes, and his pipe fell off his mouth. He caught it in mid-air, but a crack in his composure had already shown itself. "How- how is this possible?" He said, composing himself again.

"We know his maternal family tree quite well, Hokage-sama; we also know who his father and paternal grandmother were; so, by process of elimination, it must be Naruto's grandfather," Kakashi said, secretly smirking at the Hokage's loss of dignity.

The older man nodded, though the stony glare he sent Kakashi's way was a dead give-away that he noticed the mask moving when the younger man smirked. The Hokage said, "that is all well and good, but how shall we hide this piece of information, and for how long will we be able to?"

Kakashi could tell Sasuke wanted to speak, so he made a gesture to the Hokage to remind him of the children there.

"What is it, Sasuke?" The Hokage said, acknowledging one of the three Genin again.

Sasuke took a deep breath and said, "Sandaime, what are you not telling us about Naruto's family tree?"

Kakashi was disappointed that Sasuke once again skipped honorifics, but a gesture from the Hokage kept him from saying anything about the boy's rudeness. The Hokage in question said, "it's not that simple, Sasuke. Some secrets are simply far too dangerous to reveal at this point."

Sasuke mulled that over a bit, keeping his cool (much to Kakashi's relief) and said, "so, Naruto's father had enemies, and combined with the knowledge of his Sharingan, a lot of people would be after him? What if he got stronger - we got stronger?"

The Hokage nodded. He said, "that was what I had in mind, but Naruto especially will need to be far, far more skilled and powerful," leaving his pipe aside.

Sasuke bowed his head. He simply said, "understood."

Kakashi was glad that he had managed to drill some respect for authority into the boy's thick head - or maybe it was the Hokage himself who managed that?

Unfortunately, the other student was even more thick-headed. Naruto said, "hey, Hiruzen-sensei - can't you tell me in secret? I can keep it to myself!"

Kakashi palmed his face. The Hokage, instead of his usual amused attitude when Naruto did something like that, was still solemn. He said, "you're still very young and a Genin, Naruto. You have loose lips by definition. But I have another thing to tell you later; it is your choice whether you will tell your teammates or not."

Naruto grumbled a bit, but he accepted Sarutobi's judgment. He said, "I trust you Hiruzen-sensei, to know what is best."

Suddenly, the Hokage looked to have aged twenty years, but hid it quickly. He said, "speaking of secrets and getting stronger: Kakashi, I give you permission to step up their training; in fact, I strongly recommend that you do so. They need to be strong enough to handle the future challenges."

Kakashi caught the hidden meaning regarding Akatsuki and could tell that Sasuke didn't realize anything, but Sakura was a bit suspicious if he read her right (and he was certain he did - no rookie Genin could get anything past him).

Naruto shuddered. He said, "so there's worse training than what you've been putting us through, Kakashi-sensei?"

 _Oh, poor Naruto. There's always worse_ , thought Kakashi.

Naruto stepped back, and even the other two cringed.

"Oh dear, did I say that out loud?" Kakashi said, unrepentant.

* * *

While Sarutobi's Shadow Clones were teaching Naruto, Kakashi was working on the other two. To be exact, he was working his students to the bone with physical conditioning and Chakra Control exercises. The underwater exercise became a staple, except they had to do it while sticking to the bottom of a raging river.

Sasuke was also provided by Sakura with the same Nutrient Pills she herself had made use of before, ones that promoted growth in the Chakra reserves of youngsters, allowing him to last longer.

* * *

 **Naruto**

Sasuke asked Naruto to follow him when training had ended, which happened early at Sasuke's request.

Kakashi shot them a knowing smile and dismissed them.

"What about me?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shook him head, and the kunoichi of the team frowned. "It's not that I want to exclude you, Sakura, but this is clan business."

"Huh? What do you mean, Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"Apparently, I'm related to Sasuke and the Uchiha clan," Naruto answered in Sasuke's stead, "it's a secret though, don't go telling anyone."

Sakura was looking at both of them askance, but she finally nodded.

"Are you sure she's trustworthy?" Sasuke asked Naruto.

Naruto grunted in reply.

Sasuke looked at him with a smirk, making Naruto realize he had done the same as Sasuke often did.

"Oh, shut up," Naruto said, a bit annoyed.

"Hn," replied Sasuke.

The two of them fell silent then, Naruto not rising to his cousin's bait (and what a thought that was! He had living family!) A few minutes later, they reached a small lake.

"We're here," Sasuke said.

Naruto simply remained silent, waiting patiently, as Kakashi and Hiruzen had taught him.

"How is your Fire-element exercise coming along?" Sasuke asked, catching Naruto off guard.

Naruto said, "I have managed to light a leaf on fire, but the fire either sputters out before doing anything more, or I lose control and it spreads. Why?"

"It should be enough," Sasuke said. He went on to tell Naruto of the Uchiha coming of age ceremony. He said, "don't try to copy it with the Sharingan; learn it normally. It's a test, after all. The seals are Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger. Did you get all that?"

Naruto said he had.

Sasuke told him to practice the hand-seals until he had them memorized.

Naruto did just that, only complaining a little. A half hour went on that vein, until Sasuke stopped him.

Sasuke said, "watch carefully - again, without the Sharingan."

Naruto grumbled that he had heard him the first time.

Sasuke ignored the complaints and showed Naruto how he did the ninjutsu. He unleashed a very large Grand Fireball, making the area around the lake grow in temperature and become slightly misty. "You build up the Chakra in your chest, then it passes through the throat and you release it through your mouth. Now, you try," he said.

Naruto said, "yosh, here I go." He went through the hand-seals, and released… a bit of smoke, making him cough.

Sasuke simply waited patiently, without moving from his place.

Without prompting, Naruto did the hand-seals again; this time, he tried to turn the Chakra into Fire-natured one the moment it exited his throat… and released a few embers.

It went on and on for hours, until he could consistently release a very small stream of fire.

"That's enough, Naruto," said Sasuke.

"No. I'll get it, you'll see," Naruto said, determined not to disappoint his cousin, ignoring the burns on the inside and outside of his cheeks.

"Let's work on shurikenjutsu next. You are an Uchiha; you're family. I'm supposed to teach you all the clan specialties," Sasuke said then.

Naruto froze in place. "Okay," he said, in a small voice.

Naruto's aim with shuriken (when not using the Sharingan) wasn't _quite_ abysmal, but it was still horrible, according to his cousin (much to Naruto's protests that it was not that bad. Sasuke had high standards). Sasuke helped Naruto with it until the dark fell, which took a while, it being very near the start of summer.

When Sasuke was leaving, he said, "you can practice here whenever you like. Just don't stay up too late… Naruto."

Naruto said, "okay," confused by this new Sasuke. He continued trying the Grand Fireball for a couple hours after dark; then, he went back to his apartment to sleep.

The next afternoon, Kakashi dismissed the boys early and told Sakura he'd teach her one-on-one while the other two did their own training.

Sasuke corrected Naruto's aim as much as he could that day, but it was only slightly less horrible than the previous day. When they finished their target practice, Sasuke said, "you should come live with me."

Naruto stumbled over the hand-seals of the Grand Fireball, aborting his first attempt at the jutsu for the day. "What?!" He said in surprise and mild shock.

"You don't want to?" Sasuke asked, sounding oddly disappointed.

Naruto bit his lip. He said, "Sasuke, we only recently started getting along. Do you think we would survive living together?"

"We should at least try," Sasuke said, his jaw firmly set.

Naruto said, "we are supposed to keep the fact I'm an Uchiha descendant secret, remember?"

Sasuke grimaced. He said, "I forgot about that. Still, I don't get it - does your father matter so much that he would overshadow even the Sharingan?"

Naruto said, "it's not just that," taking a deep breath.

"What? More secrets?" Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded. He said, "well, I'm the container of a Bijuu. The Kyuubi, to be exact," before he had the chance to change his mind and forcing himself to remain impassive.

Sasuke blinked. He said, "huh. So you're like Yugito. It does explain why people in Konoha hate you."

"That's all you have to say?" Naruto said.

"Why?" Sasuke said, "did you expect me to ask if it's sealed safely?"

"Well, yes," Naruto said, blinking.

Sasuke shook his head. He said, "it's obvious that it is - otherwise, you wouldn't be so sane, and there would be large concentrations of Bijuu Chakra around you."

Naruto smiled and wiped a few tears, looking away. He said, "you're so smart, Sasuke. Smarter than most of Konoha," a bit bitterly.

"Hn," Sasuke 'said'.

The grunt didn't annoy Naruto this time, though, and the silence that followed wasn't awkward.

Sasuke broke it, though, saying, "will you tell Sakura?"

Naruto shook his head. He said, "not yet."

"She _is_ our teammate. You will have to tell her eventually," Sasuke said.

Naruto sighed deeply. He said, "I know."

* * *

Naruto kept practicing his Grand Fireball. It took him a month to manage something that was of decent power, much to his dismay - especially after Sasuke told him it took Sasuke himself only six days.

According to Kakashi, not everyone had the same talent for elemental ninjutsu. Naruto leaned more towards genjutsu, taijutsu and Yin and Yang Release, and maybe other non-elemental skills.

As for his accuracy with shuriken without using the Sharingan, it improved to 'barely useful as a distraction', which was a notch below 'barely passable', according to Sasuke. He could use kunai as close-range weapons, but not throw them, though he preferred the Bo Staff in close range.

During that month, Sasuke taught Naruto what he knew of the Uchiha clan's taijutsu style, with Kakashi and Hiruzen helping incorporate it into the Drunken Fist to make his own style. Naruto had about as much strength as he did speed, unlike Sasuke and Kakashi, so he wasn't as compatible with the Uchiha style as the speedsters were.

Kakashi also worked with the boys on correcting common mistakes Sharingan users made and giving them information on the use of said eye.

Sasuke's left eye had two tomoe by the end of that month, making both eyes even. Naruto still had one tomoe in each eye.

The rest of the training time was spent on teamwork exercises for the three Genin.

* * *

 **Kakashi**

A few days later, Kakashi truly showed up late for the first time since the formation of the team.

He found his Genin in the midst of practicing their ninjutsu, which he put a stop to by shouting, "hello my cute little students!" Making the kids' jutsu misfire. Except Sakura; she was too good at controlling her Chakra to suffer something like that.

A lightly cut Naruto and mildly electrified Sasuke glared at Kakashi, which only amused him.

Kakashi decided to cut to the chase and presented them with three pages, one each.

"What's this, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Sakura," Kakashi said, "these are nomination papers for the Chuunin exams," and Body Flickered away immediately - but much closer than his students would expect, hiding his Chakra expertly, in a way Sakura's sensor abilities, Sasuke's Sharingan and both things for Naruto, wouldn't catch.

He eavesdropped on the Genin's discussion.

Sakura said, "so? Are we going to enter?"

Naruto said, "of course!"

"Why? Are you having doubts?" Sasuke said.

"It's just-" Sakura said, hesitating. Then, she said, "guys, are we really a team?"

"Of course we are!" Naruto said, "Sakura, I know we've had our differences in the past, but it's all water under the bridge!"

"Hn," Sasuke 'said'.

"Still," Sakura said, "will we remain a team if we're promoted to Chuunin, or will we be split up?"

Naruto said, "there's no guarantee we'll be split up, or that we'll pass, for that matter. I know we will kick ass 'ttebayo, but to be a Chuunin, there are other requirements, too."

Sakura giggled. She said, "I didn't expect to hear that from you. Well, except the 'kicking ass' part."

Naruto pouted. Then, he said, "it has to be unanimous. If Sakura refuses to enter, so will I."

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask and left his students, looking forward to their performance in the exams, if they decided to enter.

 **Naruto**

"Hiruzen-sensei. You wanted to speak with me?" Naruto said.

"Yes," Hiruzen said, "let me tell you about the threat of the Akatsuki."

* * *

* Naruto only fully activated the Sharingan when Sasuke was in danger.

*2 Yes, here, Naruto had black eyes to begin with. Kakashi wouldn't have been compatible enough with the Sharingan if he didn't have black eyes, and Minato didn't awaken the Sharingan because he had blue eyes. (Or, he had blue eyes because he couldn't awaken the Sharingan. BTW, one of Kushina's parents had black eyes, without being an Uchiha.)

Kakashi's stats, part 1:

Nin: 5+, Tai: 4, Gen: 4+, Int: 4.5, Str: 3.5, Spd: 4, Stam: 3.5, HandS: 5

(Total: 34 - Low Kage)


End file.
